


Why Isn't Nathaniel Taking Parental Leave?

by ohmarqueliot



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, pregnancy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 10:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmarqueliot/pseuds/ohmarqueliot
Summary: Rebecca is about to start maternity leave, and finds out on her last day that Nathaniel isn't planning on taking more than a few days when the baby's born.





	Why Isn't Nathaniel Taking Parental Leave?

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the anon on tumblr who sent me a whole heap of thoughts on Rethaniel as parents, but of course my mind went to the angst instead of the fluff. My bad?

“Does anyone else have anything to bring up?” Rebecca looked from one person to another, smiling as she considered the people that she now, for the most part, thought of as her friends. Her life was _good._ She couldn’t remember ever being this happy, but not just happy – content.

And tired. And hungry. And huge.

Smoothing her hand over her belly, she paused when her eyes settled on Paula and Darryl. Paula had her proudest mama face on, and Darryl couldn’t look more heart-eyes if he tried. Warmth flooded through her, choking her up. _Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry._ She only had one more day to get through, and she wasn’t going to break down on her last day.

Her last day.

She still couldn’t quite believe that she was about to have a baby, and she’d had eight months to get used to the idea. She and Nathaniel had discussed the possibility a few times, and they’d decided that having children wasn’t out of the picture for them in a few years, maybe. Of course fate had decided not to stick to their plan, and despite her initial freak out over whether she could actually handle being a mother, she was now quietly confident that they could handle this together. Most of the time.

And she wasn’t alone. Of course she had Nathaniel, but Darryl was full of parenting tips now that he was a father of two, and Paula was always just a call away, if that. And she wasn’t afraid, now, to go to either her or Nathaniel with honesty about how she was feeling or when she started to panic.

Clearing her throat loudly, she ran her fingers under her eyes. “Oh, honey,” Paula said, squeezing her arm.

“I’m good, I’m good,” she said. _Stupid hormones._ “I’m just going to miss you guys so much.”

“It’s not like you can’t come visit,” Darryl told her, and she smiled at him gratefully. “And we’ll come and visit you. Plus, I’m sure Nathaniel will keep you updated.”

“Yeah, until the baby comes. I’m going to need you guys to keep me in the loop after that.” Having said that, she was just really looking forward to having some uninterrupted time at home with Nathaniel when the baby was born. Well, uninterrupted might be a stretch considering the barrage of visitors she was already mentally preparing herself for, but just having him around all the time without having to work was going to be nice.

George looked at her strangely. “Rebecca, you know he’s not taking time off, right?”

“What?” Of course he was. What?

“I was confirming your leave with HR for you both this morning. He’s only taking a few days when the baby’s born.”

“Oh… of course,” she said, straightening her face against her confusion. “Baby brain,” she explained away quickly, except it wasn’t. She was pretty damned certain that they hadn’t even discussed his parental leave – she’d just assumed that he’d take all the time he wanted. _Just a few days?_ Didn’t he _want_ to spend time getting to know his newborn?

Suddenly, she felt a lot less sure about her ability to handle this.

Pushing the papers in front of her into a pile, she picked it up and stood, thanking everyone before ducking out of the conference room. Nathaniel looked up at her when she entered their shared office, smiling at her distractedly. He was still on the call to the owner of a restaurant that they represented that had stopped him from coming to the staff meeting. Lowering herself into her chair with a quiet groan, she arched her back as best as she could, rubbing it to little avail – it had been in an almost nonstop ache for the last two weeks, and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be going away until the little monster came out.

Nathaniel’s eyebrows rose in questioning worry. “Are you okay?” he mouthed at her, leaning forward in his seat, but she waved him off, slipping her shoes off and relaxing in her chair. Closing her eyes, she tuned out his words but let herself get lost in the low timbre of his voice. She almost didn’t notice when he put the phone down or when he walked quietly around to stand behind her, his hands settling on her shoulders and his fingers pressing lightly into her flesh.

“Mmm, that’s good,” she murmured, leaning forward just enough to get him better access.

“Sorry I missed the whole meeting,” he said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “That took longer than I thought it would.” 

She sighed when he hit a particularly good spot. “It’s okay. We didn’t miss you.”

He huffed a laugh. “Thanks.”

They both fell into silence for a few minutes. Despite the intimacy of the moment, Rebecca’s mind filled with worry that Nathaniel didn’t want to spend any time with her or their child, that he didn’t love them or care about them and want them. That was immediately countered with the affectionate, warm touch on her shoulders, and the knowledge that of course he wanted her, of course he wanted this baby, of course he loved them both. Her mind flipped easily between the two, but she forced it onto the more logical course.

But even if she didn’t want to bring it up, she had to talk it through. That was the biggest thing she’d learned over the last few months – everything became easier with honest communication.

Reluctantly, she reached up and pulled one of his hands from her shoulders, bringing it around and kissing his palm. “So George said something interesting,” she said casually, spinning her chair around to face him.

Nathaniel looked up at the ceiling, as though there were someone up there who would help him. “What’s he done now?” he asked, settling against her desk and leaning back on both hands.

Despite the way that her anxiety made her want to curl up, she made herself lean back in her chair to better see his face without straining her neck. Why did he have to be so tall, damn it? “No, it’s what he _said,_ ” she corrected slowly. “And what _you’ve_ done. Or what you’re going to do. Or not do.”

He raised his eyebrows in confusion. “Huh?”

Baby shifted inside her, and she put her hand on her stomach in an attempt at calm. Who needed it more, though? “Nathaniel, why aren’t you taking proper parental leave?”

“I am,” he said, looking at her as though he didn’t quite understand the question. “I got George to put in a few days for me.”

She pressed her lips together in a grimace. “Yeah see, I was thinking more of the week option. And you know, multiples of them. Multiple weeks.”

His brow furrowed. “Why would I do that?”

_Ouch._

Taking a long, deep breath, Rebecca held it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly, but it did nothing to alleviate the sick feeling growing in her stomach. Because why _would_ he want to spend some time with his girlfriend and their newborn? What kind of strange person might actually enjoy spending time with his new family? What kind of person would want to spend time with _her?_

Nope. She was _not_ listening to bad brain today.

Except it was screaming at her so loudly…

“Hey,” Nathaniel said softly, leaning over to reach out to her, hesitating when she shifted her chair back an inch. She wasn’t going to let herself bottle this up because he was so good at soothing her. She just needed a minute. After a moment he dropped his hand, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “What’s the problem? One of us has to be here to run this place.”

And just like that, her hurt deflated into weariness. It wasn’t about her, it wasn’t about the baby. It was about work. Of course it was. Perfect Plimpton III couldn’t leave the office unattended for an extended period of time. That would be _crazy._ Dropping her face into her hands, she pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, then dropped her hands and looked up at him tiredly. “Nathaniel, do you not remember that Darryl ran this place before either of us got here?”

The corner of his mouth quirked up tentatively. “Who’s going to run this place _well?”_ he corrected.

She groaned loudly. Of course he wouldn’t take this seriously. “Now you’re just being facetious,” she said, pushing against the desk so that her chair spun away from him.

He caught the arm of her chair and turned her back to face him. She met his eyes sullenly, crossing her arms over her chest. His attempt at humour was gone, thank god, and he looked down at her imploringly. “Rebecca, I have a responsibility,” he said, gently trying to convince her. She wasn’t sold. “I can’t just leave.”

“I can,” she said determinedly. “I am.”

“Yes, but –“

“But what?” She lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m a woman, so it’s okay?”

Nathaniel laughed uncomfortably, staring at her incredulously. “What? No, I –“

“What is it then?”

She had a feeling, a big feeling, but she needed him to be the one to get there. They’d had more than a few moments like this since they’d started seeing each other, where she’d had to watch him question things that he’d never even considered alternatives for. She watched him carefully as he shrugged uneasily. “It’s just… not what’s done.”

And there it was. She knew exactly what he meant – it was exactly the same problem that had held him back from feeling his feelings, from showing his heart to the world. And he had such a big heart, when he remembered that he was allowed to use it. That damned family of his, where business was everything, optics second, and family a lowly third. She was willing to bet that his father hadn’t taken a minute longer off of work than he’d had to when he was born. “But what do you _want_ to do?” she asked him earnestly.

Nathaniel blinked back at her, his lips parting as he stared at her uncomprehendingly. The poor guy hadn’t even considered the fact that what he wanted for himself factored into the equation. “Oh,” he said eventually, his shoulders slumping as his eyes dropped to the ground.

“Yeah.” She paused, smiling up at him sadly. He was miles ahead of where he’d been when they’d met, but a lifetime of learning was hard to shake. She hated getting caught up in the misguided priorities that had been ingrained in him since birth, but he’d been there for her every time she’d needed him, and she wasn’t going to let him choose work over this because he thought that he had to. “Nathaniel, I’ll support whatever you want to do. But I’m going to need you for more than just a few days. Give me a week, or two.” She leaned forward, trying to get in his line of view. “But just so you know,” she said, when he raised his eyes to her, “you can take as long as you want. It’s not like we can’t afford it, and no one is going to think you’re soft or unfocused or unambitious if you spend a little extra time with your kid before coming back to work.”

Nathaniel nodded slowly, looking more than a little lost, and when he reached out to her she gripped his hand just as tightly as he held hers. They both had weird hurdles to jump, but they were doing okay at working their way through them together. Needing a little reassurance and knowing that he needed a lot, she used his grip on her to pull herself to her feet. His arms were ready for her when she stepped into them, her cheek pressing against his chest, his arm coming around her shoulders and holding her close. She felt a swell of warmth when his other hand settled on her stomach almost automatically. “I love you,” he said against her hair, his hold on her tightening slightly.

Her hands smoothed up and down his back. “I love you too, you idiot.” 

* * *

The office threw her a party at the end of the day, because of course they did.

“I processed your new leave request, sir,” George said to Nathaniel as he handed her a piece of cake that was at least three sizes bigger than she could eat right now.

“Thanks, George,” Nathaniel said, wrapping his arm around Rebecca’s waist. “I’m just glad Rebecca picked up on it. Can you imagine me staying home for anything less than six weeks? This is my child, after all, and I don’t want to miss a thing.”

Glancing up at him, she caught the apology in his eyes and in the gentle squeeze he gave her. “You’re welcome,” she said cheerily, relaxing into him and smiling at him warmly.


End file.
